Acclivity - Star Wars: The Old Republic
by Ningues-Yohanan
Summary: This epic saga tells the tale of a young Sith Lord, Desiderium, and his exploits before the Cold War. The story is very loosely based on the MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. (This story is written purely for enjoyment and not at all for monetary gain. Electronic Arts and LucasArts own all rights to the franchise.)
1. Chapter 1

Acclivity - Star Wars: The Old Republic

Chapter 1:

There was a reason Tatooine was not heavily settled. It was a world that was constantly bombarded by the heat of its twin suns. This was place that attracted the degenerates of the galaxy. The appearance of a Sith Lord, let alone a member of the Dark Council, on Tatooine was a sight that few lived to speak of. Darth Brade Ratis stepped out of the speeder after giving the driver a hefty tip. Behind him trotted a boy no more than thirteen years old.

"Wait here, child," boomed the Dark Lord.

The boy sat in the shaded corner of a building and waited for the man's return. Darth Brade continued on and strode into the cantina, though the patrons payed him no notice due to his acquisition of local attire. His only distinguishing features being his height and his pale skin.

He did his best to mask his sophisticated accent as he asked the bartender, "Know of any slave vendors in these parts?"

The grotesque bartender wiped his mouth with a filthy, hairy arm and replied, "Well, you betcha mister. There's a slave auction going on in the town center 'bout thirty minutes from now."

"Thank you, sir," said Darth Brade as he slipped a few Wupiupi, the local currency, into the bartender's outstretched hand. The Sith knew how these backwater systems worked, everything costs something, even simple advice.

The tall,pale man motioned for the boy to follow him as he walked toward Mos Espa's center.

"Father, what are we doing here again?" asked the boy.

Under his breath, the Sith Lord replied, "I was assigned to find more Sith acolytes in the Outer Rim of Republic space."

"So then, why are we here of all places?"

"This is where I found your mother, who is utterly gifted with the Dark Side of the Force. There is a chance, however slight, that one of these slaves for sale has that same affinity," said the Dark Lord.

It had been nearly fifteen years since Darth Brade left Dromund Kaas, the Sith homeworld, on a secret assignment and met his wife, a simple shop owner on Tatooine, and courted her. Darth Brade brought the woman back to his newly adopted world of Naboo and married her there. Soon afterwards, they had a son, Desiderium.

The Sith Lord and his son finally reached the city center, and the auctions began within a few minutes. A slimy hutt slithered its way on top of a stage. He spoke a few lines in Huttese.

The hutt's droid translated, "Welcome one and all to revered Borukaa the Hutt's slave auction. We will only be selling our very best slaves today. Bid well and best of luck to all buyers."

Desiderium looked up at his father. The man's eyes were closed and his face was locked in an expression of pure concentration. The boy knew enough to discern that his father was reaching out in the Force to sense any kind of Dark Side affinity in the group of slaves. Suddenly, the Sith Lord's eyes opened.

"Yes..." he softly whispered to himself.

Slave after ragged slave was presented in front of a small crowd of marginally better dressed beings. They clamored and shouted their bids in Huttese and Basic. With every slave, Desiderium grew more and more impatient. After a while, there were only two slaves left. One was a middle-aged woman, and the other was a girl, not much older than the teenage boy.

As soon as the both of them were presented, Darth Brade shouted, "150,000 Wupiupi!"

The crowd grew completely silent as the man walked up to the stage and handed a monetary droid a stack of metallic chips. Shortly thereafter, the man stood below the two ladies on the stage and helped them down.

"Why in the world would you pay so much for us?" asked the girl.

Darth Brade smiled and replied, "My dear, you are both very interesting to me. Please, we will discuss this matter further on my ship."

After a short speeder flight to the spaceport, the group walked into the hanger containing the undercover Sith's ship.

"Oh my!" exclaimed the woman.

Desiderium often forgot that his father's gleaming, chrome Naboo yacht was as much a symbol of wealth as a it was a starship.

"Only the best for you ladies," Desiderium smartly stated.

They all boarded the ship and took seats in the common area. The two ladies had clearly never been any place near as nice as the Nubian yacht. Their tan, tattered tunics contrasted sharply with the glistening, white interior of the starship.

"What are your names?" asked the Sith Lord.

"My name is Henraitia, and this is my daughter Tristesza," replied the woman.

Darth Brade stood and bowed before the both of them. "I am Brade Ratis, Dark Lord of the Sith and this is my son, soon-to-be Sith Desiderium Ratis." The boy bowed exactly as his father did. Brade continued, "I am a councilman on the Emperor's Dark Council, an elite group of twelve Sith Lords who both advise and carry out the will of the Emperor. I was tasked with lying low on a non-Republic world, in my case Naboo, and scouting the Outer Rim for powerful acolytes for the Sith Academy for the coming invasion of the Galactic Republic."

Desiderium fully expected the women to react in shock and horror as his father had told him most people react to the Sith. However, the both looked almost gleeful. The girl asked, "So we aren't slaves anymore?"

"Quite the opposite," replied Brade. "You will be nobility on the planet of Naboo. You will have asylum there for the rest of your days. The only catch is that I ask young Tristesza to attend the Sith Academy when she becomes an adult," the Sith explained.

"What is this Sith and Empire that you're going on about?" asked the little girl.

Darth Brade spent nearly an hour detailing the history of the Sith, from the ancient pureblooded species, to the Empire that currently stood. The two women seemed entranced by the tale.

"I'll gladly join the Sith," said the little girl excitedly.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Darth Brade. He strode out of the room and returned with two elegant dresses with matching accessories. "I have acquired a near infinite amount of money during my tenure on Naboo. The Dark Side of the Force is easily strong enough to persuade others think you were _always_ one of nobility on the planet."

The women and Desiderium laughed heartily at the remark. Darth Brade chuckled and showed the ladies to their quarters on the ship. "The journey though hyperspace will take an hour or so. Make yourselves comfortable."

"Thank you so much for the opportunity great Sith Lord," said Henraitia.

Desiderium was taken aback by the beauty of the young girl Tristesza walking around his father's ship. She was otherworldly in his mind, a goddess among men. Even wearing these tattered robes and not a drop of makeup, she was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

The ladies disappeared into their rooms as the imposing Sith Lord sat at the command console and started the jump to hyperspace. Within an hour, the ship decelerated and the beautiful world of Naboo appeared in the viewport. The ship entered the atmosphere and dropped gracefully toward the surface like a silver feather. The ladies came out of their rooms dressed in their new regalia.

"This planet had only been inhabited by humans for a few centuries, so expect to see more animals than people here. It will be the perfect place to hide from the Jedi and the Republic for now," said Brade. "I must mention that we may not even live in the same continent. If a Jedi were to visit the planet, he would sense four consolodated Dark Side users in a heartbeat, no matter the methods we used to conceal ourselves. Because of this, I am sending the two of you to live in Theed. When my son becomes of age, he and Tristesza will be sent to the Academy. Until then, lay low and practice both the customs of Naboo and the ways of the Dark Side outlined in this holocron," Darth Brade explained as he slipped a cube into the woman's hands.

The Sith gave a large rucksack of credits to the woman and also explained to her how to influence others to believe she was of nobility as he had. Desiderium waved goodbye to Tristesza as the pair of ladies departed the ship and walked toward a crowd of servants.

"Don't worry, you'll see her again someday, son," consoled Brade.

The two men boarded an awaiting speeder and flew to their mansion in Lake Country.


	2. Chapter 2

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Acclivity - Chapter 2

In the early morning of Desiderium's eighteenth birthday, Darth Brade knocked on his son's door.

"Come in," came the young man's voice from within.

"Couldn't sleep last night, Desiderium?" asked Brade as he stepped in.

"Not even a wink," his son replied.

The young man had developed much over five years. He was as tall as his father and was built like a tank, all muscle and not an ounce of fat to be seen. He stood up from his bed and gathered all of the belongings he would be allowed to have for the next year of training on the hostile planet of Korriban. Desiderium felt a tinge of sadness as he looked around his parent's mansion for what he knew would be the last time for a while. He also felt something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It felt cold within him, as if the Force was trying to tell him something.

"Are you alright, son?" inquired his father.

"I feel a little...off, Father."

"I don't sense a thing at all. All preparations have been made. We'll pick up Tristesza and set off. There's no way anything could go wrong," consoled Brade.

The two men walked out of their house and into Brade's gleaming, silver starship where Brade's wife was waiting.

"Oh honey, you look so handsome. I'm going to miss you so much, little Desi," his mother sobbed as he walked up the ramp.

"Mother, it's only for a year, then I'll see you again," answered the young man. "Plus, we still have a few more hours together until we reach Korriban."

"Speaking of which, we should be going," said Brade. "Tristesza is expecting us soon."

The chrome ship rose gently off the ground and made way for Naboo's capital, Theed. The ship set down at the spaceport and its ramp lowered. Tristesza and her mother walked up the ramp briskly and sat in the middle of the ship, in the same area as Desiderium. The young man could not believe his eyes. The girl he knew five years ago looked even more beautiful than before. What did he say? His father had taught him how to send massive telekinetic blasts using only his mastery of the Force, how to leap massive distances, and fight flawlessly with a lightsaber. However, he did not mention one word about how to talk to a beautiful woman. The ship lifted high into the atmosphere. He paced in his mind about what to say to his friend that he hadn't seen in ages. He couldn't believe that even after five years he was still this shy. Suddenly, Desiderium felt his heart sink. He looked out of the viewport to see a missle streaming toward the front of the ship. His father tried to bank the ship into an evasive maneuver, but it was too late. The missile detonated and destroyed the front half of the ship along with Desideriums parents. As soon as they passed, Desiderium felt that familiar cold feeling within him, only stronger this time. Reacting quickly, the young man reached out to the force and pulled Tristesza and her mother toward him. He held each with his massive arms and yelled, "Hold on!" He pushed off of what remained of the once-beautiful starship and began to fall toward the planet. Desiderium placed himself in a stasis and called upon the force to shield the young lady and her mother from the atmosphere that would have surely disintegrated them. As they fell, Desiderium's body ignited into a fireball, though the women were protected by his shield of the Force. Tristesza could see the agony in his face and reached out to the force to take over for him. Desiderium was tumbling too much and too quickly for Tristesza to hold onto either physically or with the Force. Desiderium motioned that he would land on his own.

"Just make sure you land safely!" she yelled as she grabbed her mother telekinetically. The now badly burnt man tumbled to the Earth. He drifted in and out of consciousness from the massive G-forces he was experiencing. He used his remaining energy to strain the muscles around his face to stay conscious. When he was a hundred meters from the ground, he focused on the Force and slowed his descent to a non-fatal one. He thudded to the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Desiderium awoke in a dark room. The only thing he could see was a screen with numbers and lines. The only thing audible was the ping of his heartbeat on the monitor. A nurse walked in and checked his IV. She was startled to see him awake.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Nevermind that, how long have I been out?" retorted Desiderium.

"About a week and a half," she replied.

Desiderium let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't lost too much time and could still make it to the academy in time for his session to begin. But first, he had other matters to attend to. He ripped out the IV and stood up. The man suddenly noticed his skin felt very different. It was more taut and rigid than before. He looked down and saw pale, scarred flesh all over his body. He walked to a small mirror in the corner of the room. In his face were cybernetic implants that wrapped around his jaw and cheeks. The left side of his face was much darker than the other half. It was severely disfigured.

"Why the cybernetics?" he asked.

"Your impact with the ground damaged your lower jaw to an extend that it had to be held together with metal and it be moved with cybernetics from now on," calmly replied the nurse.

Desiderium clenched his fists. Who did this to him? Was Tristesza alright?

"Thank you nurse for your care and patience. May I have some robes?"

The nurse opened a cabinet and handed the large man a set of black robes. As soon as he had them on, Desiderium left the hospital and began connecting to the Force again. He quickly sensed Tristesza's and her mother's presence nearby. The young dark side user followed the trail to a hotel on the end of the block. Surely enough, the two young ladies were at a table in the dining area near the lobby. Tristesza was taken aback by his appearance.

"I can't believe you're alive. I thought you...I couldn't sense your presence in the Force. We have no idea where to start in looking for your parents' murderer. No one here seems to know a thing about it."

"I'm fine now. I must have been cut off from the Force while I was in a coma. Thank you for at least trying to find this monster. I just can't believe my parents are gone..."

Suddenly, Desiderium's mind flashed back to the impact of the missile. The familiar coldness crept in his body once again. Desiderium now knew what it was. It was the Dark Side creeping into his body, being fueled by his turmoil and passion.

"We must find the one responsible for this!" shouted Desiderium.

"I'm coming with you," said Tristesza. "Mother, please go back home. I'll be gone for a long time. I'm going to help Desiderium avenge his parents, then I'm off to the academy. I'll come back when things are sorted out."

Tristesza gave her mother a tearful hug goodbye. The duo left the hotel and began their search around Theed.

"Who would want us dead?" inquired Tristesza.

"Who else but the disgusting Jedi?!" Desiderium spat. "We'll find him if it means turning over every rock on this planet."

The two asked around the massive city if there were visits by the Jedi recently. They asked almost everyone in town fro days with no success. Finally, their search proved fruitful. A young Jedi Padawan was doing research on wildlife on the plains just West of the city. Desiderium and Tristesza felt a rush and sense of excitement knowing that they would have their revenge. They rented a speeder and took it to the fields. As the speeder came to a halt near an area in which the Jedi was last seen, Tristesza handed Desiderium something wrapped in cloth.

"It was the only thing that survived the crash. I made sure to recover it so nobody would know of our true identities. But now that I know you're alive, you should definitely have it."

The man took the cloth and unwrapped it gently. Inside, lay a charred, metal tube: his father's lightsaber. He ignited the crimson blade of energy and performed a series of precise movements and swings, just as his father had taught him how.

"Thank you so much," the man whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Let's find this scoundrel and end him."

The two Sith acolytes closed their eyes and felt the Force around them. They felt an irregular center of warmth ahead of them, a beacon in the Light Side. They got into the speeder and traveled for a mile or so when they stumbled upon a makeshift cabin built into the side of a hill made of massive stones.

"No regular human or gungan could erect something like that without heavy machinery," analyzed Tristesza.

"Precisely," Desiderium replied.

The duo stopped the speeder far enough away that the engine would not give away their approach. The two masked themselves in the Force. They silently circled the house, which had no door to speak of, and approached from behind. Tristesza whispered in Desiderium's ear, "I'll blast away the roof and you can constrain him."

Desiderium nodded. It was a sound plan. A Padawan would not be expecting anyone to bother him out here in the plains. Tristesza focused her power and released a massive shockwave unlike anything Desiderium had seen, even from his father. The young Sith lept into the small space and saw a young, scrawny man in a tunic. The man was petrified and frozen. Desiderium rushed forward, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him in the air.

"Why are you here?!" the young Sith acolyte hissed.

"I...I'm here to...study..." the man gasped out.

Desiderium brought his unused hand back and drew it in a fist. He slammed the Padawan in the face with all his might. Teeth and blood spewed from the man's mouth as he wheezed.

"Tell me the truth!" bellowed Desiderium.

Both Desiderium and Tristesza fed off of the man's fear. The more afraid he was, the more powerful the Dark Side was.

"Fine! I was told to scout the land and launch a defensive satellite turret into space from here. They told me to fire on a specific ship if it were to leave orbit," the man sputtered out.

Desiderium's blood boiled. "And who sent you?"

"The Jedi Council..."

The man didn't finish the sentence before Desiderium reached for the lightsaber on his belt. The Padawan did the same. Both blades ignited. Red and blue blades clashed one another in a flurry of parries and strikes. _This man is lanky but he can absolutely wield a saber,_ Desiderium thought to himself. Tristesza drew a blaster she kept on her hip and squared it to the Jedi's head. She fired, but in a swift twirling motion, the Padawan deflected the bolt while also managing to parry Desiderium's onslaught of attacks. The bolt traveled back and grazed Tristesza's ribs. She fell over in pain. Desiderium felt his friend's pain and used it to fuel his attack. He batted the Padawan's saber aside and prepared a killing blow. In the last possible second, however, the Padawan, slashed the hilt of Desiderium's saber, disabling it completely. Not to be defeated so easily, Desiderium used the force to yank the Padawan's saber from his hands. The Jedi backreeled, tripping over the toppled stones from his hideout.

"No!" he pleaded "Please, I didn't mean to kill anyone!"

"Didn't mean to kill anyone?" Desiderium spat. "Tell that to my parents when you become one with the Force!"

Desiderium slashed downward and bisected the helpless man. He glared at his pathetic corpse and was disgusted that such a weak mongrel killed his beloved parents. He tossed aside the Jedi weapon and walked to Tristesza, who had already healed her own wounds.

"Well done," they said to each other at the same time. The two gathered themselves and walked back to the speeder. On the drive back to Theed, they agreed to steal a shuttle and head to Korriban as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Star Wars: The Old Republic Acclivity - Part 3

Desiderium stood over the corpse of his defeated opponent.

"That's it?! This is all that can be mustered at this pathetic excuse of an academy?!" he spat at the disturbed onlookers. "This is what happens when you take what is not yours, you digusting excuses for acolytes!"

The young man that now lay dead had stolen and destroyed Desiderium's lightsaber in his sleep. He payed the ultimate price for this deception. It was commonplace on Korriban for Sith to betray one another. The Sith Empire was based on the principle that the strongest achieve power and the weak are forced to do their bidding. Any and all advantages should be put in place to eliminate stronger opponents, including destroying or sabatoging their prized weapons and armor behind their back. Desiderium shoved through the crowd to his best friend, Tristesza.

"Do you enjoy it?" she asked.

"Killing? I don't know. I do it because I have to. It's the way of the Sith to crush our enemies," Desiderium replied.

"And our friends too," she said as she chuckled. Desiderium grimaced.

The two walked to the chamber of the Overseer, the headmaster of the Sith Academy and the ruler of every students fate. The two were the top students on all of Korriban. Tests and quests were nothing but menial tasks for the two. They had caught the attention and admiration of the most powerful Sith on the planet, and it would surely jump start the duo's career as Sith Lords.

"Blessed children of the Dark Side," a voice as chilling as any came from the dimly lit room. The Overseer's chamber sent chills down their spines. "Well done in the courtyard, Acolyte Ratis."

Desiderium gulped and began to mutter, "But my lord, how did-"

"Child, there is nothing I do not see at this academy. The Force tells me all I need to know," the cloaked figure said as he rose from a massive chair, the only item in the room, and approached the two students. "You two are an unusual case here. Never before has the Force been so strong with anyone, let alone two people like yourselves."

The man was featureless. His entire body and face wrapped in heavy, black fabric. The two students were absolutely petrified. The instructors were said to be absolutely terrifying here, but the two saw them as nothing more than glorified nerf-herders. This being was something entirely different. He radiated hate and fear. He was obviously tangible, yet he was ephemeral at the same time. He seems to glide across the floor as he moved. He stood only a few inches from the pair's faces. The being was as tall as the mighty Desiderium, though he was not nearly as well-built.

"You two are going to be Sith, that is, if you can complete one last task for me," the dreadful being said.

"Anything you wish," replied Tristesza.

"You two are to delve into the tomb of Sith Lord Pyrion Krathus. It is well-defended by hundreds of droids and...creatures that defend his remains. Get to his crypt and I will give you your final instructions there." The Overseer glided back to his chair. Desiderium and Tristesza bowed and left the room. Leaving the room felt like instant relief. The Dark Side was tangible in the space around such a powerful Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Let's be on our way then," Desiderium stated. The two did not grab food or water. The Force could sustain a Sith for weeks if they knew how to harness it properly. The classes at the academy were not completely useless, it would seem. The two walked out of the academy gates with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing and the training sabers slung across their backs.

They traveled for days to get to the tomb. The Dark Side powered them through, night and day, and guided them to their destination, the peak of a mountain a hundred miles from the academy. The two found the entrance soon enough. It was a massive, corroded hatch made of cortosis, a lightsaber resistant material.

"He was a smart man," Tristezsa said. "But not smart enough." With a flick of her wrist, the hatch flung into the air and down the side of the mountain. Desiderium and Tristesza drew their training sabers and activated them. They jumped down into the chasm below. They fell hundreds of feet before they slowed their descent and floated to the ground. As soon as their feet hit, dust flew into the air and red, glowing eyes surrounded them in every direction. The ancient droids rushed at the acolytes with blades and electrostaffs. The acolytes batted down droid after droid with flurries of swipes, parries, and thrusts. After they destroyed the massive army, they regained their composure.

"Are you okay?" Tristesza asked.

"Better than ever," Desiderium said with a fire in his eyes. The two pushed on, fighting the occasional group of droids along the way to the main crypt. The Dark Side guided them like a beacon to the room which contained the remains of this once-powerful Sith.

After nearly a day of fighting and walking through the massive halls of the mountain tomb, they entered the crypt of Pyrion Krathus.

"By the Force," the two exclaimed at the same time. As they said it, a massive beast rose from the ground before them. It was a Terentatek, a demon creature that was a physical manifestation of the Dark Side. It stood at fifty feet tall. It had spikes pertruding from multiple places on its body. Desiderium had heard the rumors of these creatures. Some stated that even lightsabers could not pierce the hide of these demons. _How can we prevail if all we have are training sticks?!_ he asked himself. The beast shook the room with as it stopped its gnarled and clawed feet. The acolytes jumped high in the air and came down with all of their might behind their training sabers. They hit the beast where its hide was weakest, but to no avail. The blows only enraged the creature further. The Terentatek swung at the two with claws the size of vibroswords. The two were much too agile to be hit, but their strength had been sapped over the course of their journey and previous battles. It wasn't long before the beast found its mark. Desiderium tried to roll from the beast's strike, but a claw pierced him through the sternum. He gasped his final breath and fell to the floor, lifeless. Tristesza drew on her remaining strength, and in a display of immense power, ripped the beast's own hand from its body. As is roared in pain, she slammed the clawed hand into the creatures skull, ending its life as quickly as it had ended her childhood friend's. She ran to the body of her beloved. She had studied as a healer in the academy for some time and held hope that she could bring him back. She bit her hand to draw blood and used it to draw the ancient runes she had practiced so many times on Desiderium's face. She chanted the ritual as she held back tears. Eventually, Desiderium awoke. His amber eyes locked on hers. The moment did not last, however. The two heard clapping where the old Sith's coffin was.

"Well done, you two," said the Overseer. "You've completed almost all of the tests I have placed before you."

"Almost all?" inquired Desiderium.

The Overseer laughed loudly. It was the most terrifying thing either Desiderium or Tristezsa had ever heard. Not even the roar from the demon compared. "You will fight to the death right here. Whoever lives will be my apprentice and gain a place on the High Council of the Emperor." Desiderium looked into Tristezsa's eyes again. This time there were tears.

"Please don't," she begged. Desiderium stood up from her arms and walked to his fallen training saber. He did not think, he only acted. Tristesza remained on her knees where she had revived him only a few moments ago. Desiderium stood over her with his blade activated.

"Didn't I mean anything to you?" she whimpered. "Didn't this time together affect you at all?"

"That's the thing, Tris, you're all I have left. You are my only barrier from gaining full mastery of the Dark Side. With you gone, I will know only sorrow and power. I will conquer this world and the next until all is mine."

He plunged the blade into her back.

"Thank you for that," said the Overseer right into his ear. The young man felt as though he should weep, but could not find it in himself any longer. The Dark Side had truly taken over every facet of who he was. He was no longer Desiderium, but a Sith Lord. He turned and knelt before the Overseer. The being ignited its saber and wove it over both of his new apprentice's shoulders.

"I pronounce you Darth Cruciatus, Lord of Torment and Pain. May the Force serve you well as my apprentice," said the old Sith Master. The newly anointed Sith looked up from his kneeling position to his new purpose. He felt empowered. Never before had he felt more alive, yet so dead at the same time.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"


End file.
